Bringing Back a Popular Saying

I am going to use my powerful influence in the blogosphere to push for the resurgence of an old catch phrase. This is a phrase taught to me by my father. Its meaning became significant to me as I read books by the founding fathers and champions of liberty who came after them. Men like Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson wrote articulately what can be summed up in this simple phrase.

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

The beauty of the phrase is that it plainly says something very powerful and equally infers something just as important. The simple wording tells the hearer to take care of himself, to think about things relevant to him, and to hold himself to a high standard. It infers that one should allow others the same privilege and respect their right to do so. But it implies that when you are taking care of yourself, you have no time to stick your nose into the business of others.

America has become the Land of the Freeloader and the Home of those Brave Enough to Meddle in the Affairs of Others. (That used to get one shot.) We are bombarded each day with news of a meddling legislator or pathetic soccer mom trying to come up with a law that encroaches on rights we have held for over two hundred years. It has become quite unfashionable for candidates to proclaim that they will go to Washington and work hard to defend the constitution and at least stand firm against future government encroachment on our rights. Ron Paul is the only elected official I know of in Washington who makes this claim.

Years ago, we decided to buy the argument that if someone’s choice costs the government or an insurance company money, that choice should be taken away. Now come on! Did we actually think that if people stopped smoking or eating red meat that insurance companies were going to lower our premiums or that the government was going to lower our taxes? If you say yes, you are a fool. Yet we bought that argument and are now applying it to everything the do-gooders can possibly identify as bringing pleasure or thrill to life.

MADD founder Candy Lightner has distanced herself from the organization because they have become a prohibitionist group. They accomplished their original goals of toughening DUI laws and raising national awareness about the problem. But do-gooders can never just claim victory and move on with their lives. And this is the problem with every group in America that seeks to “raise awareness” about an issue. They will never stop until the strong arm of government helps them stop an activity they see as bad.

In Ohio, we have an organization called Citizens for Community Values. It is headed by Phil Burress, a former union thug and self-described former porn addict. Phil makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year strong-arming politicians into enacting his Puritanical views into law. Burress is twice bankrupt and twice divorced, once while President of Citizens for Community Values. He is married to wife number three, also a values activist who makes quite a hefty salary bullying Indiana politicians.

Conservative Christians blindly follow this pathetic loser. Republicans are so indebted to him that they dare not question his financial motive or his past moral failures. I am researching information for a post on Burress. It will blow your mind. My interest in his business stems only from the fact that he pokes his nose into everyone else’s. I, along with many of my friends, have moral failings that rival those of Phil Burress. I am not condemning him for his failures, only for the fact that he is so judgmental of others while making big bucks doing it.

But my point is that we have lost the ability to take care of ourselves and allow others to do the same. Today, I am going to work hard at MY business. That should be enough to keep me busy all day.